A September Story

I am far from fashionable, but fashion holds a certain fascination for me. After remembering that September brings Vogue's Fall Fashion issue and chatting with Audrey and Peter about it, I wanted to have a copy. Downtown newsstands didn't have it. But on a bus trip to Stop & Shop in Westfield for Stuff You Can't Get in Plainfield, I also found one lone Vogue. It added a few pounds to my shopping bag, but I didn't mind the extra exertion of lugging it home.

To understand my interest, you have to know that I sewed many dresses for my daughter Audrey when she was young and later made her wedding dress. When I was part of a very creative group of colleagues in the 1970s, many of us created garments for special occasions. My favorite was one I designed and made for a Halloween party where I went dressed as an elf, with a pink satin blossom hat, a tunic made of green velvet leaves all stitched together and pink satin slippers with turned-up toes. I loved using trapunto, reverse applique or hand embroidery for my creations.

Audrey and Peter are such fashion mavens that they came from Seattle for the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and we all enjoyed the documentary on fashion chronicler Bill Cunningham on one of my Seattle visits.

I also worked for about eight years at a company that sold fabric and sewing supplies by mail order. The company offered complete packets for replicating high fashion garments in comparable fabrics. The bolts of silk charmeuse and wool challis, Harris Tweed and Moygashel linen entranced me with their textures. Our customers ordered from all over the world. I used to wonder why someone would need fancy clothes in places like Yellow Knife, Canada or some tiny town in the U.S.

It took me a while to plow through all 916 pages of the September Vogue. Besides gasping at the price of designer clothes in the magazine, I was also exclaiming over the beautiful cuts and draping and intricate details, especially the use of lace, beads and braid known in the trade as  "passementerie."

Fall 2012 will most likely find me still wearing jeans and black turtle necks as usual, but it was a nice escape to page through Vogue and see what clever designers have come up with for the fashionistas of the world. And don't forget the editor, Anna Wintour. Audrey and Peter and I avidly watched "The September Issue" and if you want a glimpse into the world of Vogue, that's the film to see.

--Bernice